Israeli, U.s. Officials Discuss Fate Of Colonel Tied To Pollard

Spy Ring

July 2, 1986|By New York Times

WASHINGTON — A high-level Israeli delegation has met with Justice Department officials to discuss prospects for criminal charges against an Israeli Air Force colonel who has been linked to a spy ring, sources said Tuesday.

Two sources said the Israeli delegation, which included the Israeli ambassador to the United States, Meir Rosenne, concluded the talks Monday without agreeing on the legal status of the colonel, Aviem Sella.

A Reagan administration official would not say what was discussed at the meeting but indicated that Israel had not won major concessions from the prosecutors.

Sella has been threatened with indictment in a case involving the purchase of top-secret American military documents by an Israeli espionage operation.

The Justice Department has identified the colonel as a chief Israeli contact for Jonathan Pollard, an American naval analyst who has pleaded guilty to spying for Israel. Although Sella has not been charged, prosecutors have said he may be indicted later, along with three other Israelis implicated in the espionage scheme.

The Israeli Embassy confirmed that several Israeli officials joined in a meeting Monday, including Rosenne; his chief deputy, Eli Rubenstein, and Hanan Baron, deputy director general of the Israeli Foreign Ministry. American and Israeli lawyers representing Sella also were present, the officials said.

Israel has expressed concern that the case could damage American-Israeli relations, and there have been reports that the Israeli government would try to block charges against Sella, who is thought to be a future leader of the Israeli military.

Reagan administration officials have said they will indict Sella unless he cooperates with an investigation that centers on Pollard and his wife, Anne Henderson Pollard, who has pleaded guilty to lesser charges in the case.

Court documents say Sella served as Pollard's chief contact with the Israeli government. Pollard, who worked as a Navy counterterrorism analyst, has acknowledged that he sold American military documents to Israeli agents in exchange for tens of thousands of dollars.

There have been repeated news reports that others who have not yet been identified might also be charged in the case.